Friday, February 3, 2017

Liquid Pencil on Stillman & Birn Beta Paper

This morning I wanted to try out the liquid pencil in my newer purchased Stillman & Birn Beta mini sketchbook......which is one of the new soft cover landscape orientation books (3.5" x 5.5")

As I was working the little illustration, I noticed right off that I would have a problem getting even coverage. It was like working on glass or any slick surface. It was too easy to lift back off the paper not even trying. Of course that may not be a bad thing depending upon the subject and depending upon the results you are after.

I have mixed feelings right now so can't say if I like how the liquid pencil goes down on this paper or not. I will have to try again before making up my mind.

What's strange is that I've worked the liquid pencil in a larger older Beta sketchbook and had better control with the coverage.

Maybe I didn't mix the liquid pencil well or maybe the newer soft cover Beta journal paper is different? Maybe the Sepia (or any of the colored) liquid pencil behaves differently? The crane is worked on the back side of a page so maybe that's the reason. At this point I honestly don't know.

Trying to answer my own questions, I worked these boxes between the Beta paper and Fabriano that I used when I worked the light fixture months ago.

The Fabriano feels like it has a little more tooth to the paper to include the back side and maybe allowed a little more control for an even application......still streaks a little but I didn't "seem" to have quite the same problem with it wanting to lift as easily as it did on the Beta.

I didn't see much difference in behavior between the colored liquid pencil versus the regular gray.

I'm now wondering what brush I might have used with the light fixture. I might have used a soft natural hair brush versus the synthetic I used with this crane and the box examples. I don't always think to include what brush I'm using in my individual posts.

Oh well........was interesting to say the least even though I'm still left with questions. It might just be the nature of the beast (liquid pencil) or it just might be the user............lol.

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About Me

Art hobbyist / sketcher / watercolorist who loves sharing with the hopes it might encourage others in their journey with sketching and painting.
Started out 30 plus years ago painting in acrylic on wood, glass, and metal surfaces until I was introduced to watercolor in 1991. A medium I fell in love with immediately.
Over the past few years, I have been drawn into Pen and Ink as well as the Art of Journaling or keeping an Artist's Journal which is my new love!
Expanding my horizons a bit, I've been playing with digital sketching as well.